This handsome little volume, published by Britain's National Maritime Museum, reprints a short, somewhat fictionalized account of a notorious 18th-century pirate by the author of Robinson Crusoe. It describes the brief life of John Gow, who left home at an early age to sail the seas. Gow overthrew the captain of the ship Caroline and assumed command, and along with his new crew he exploited French, Spanish, and Portuguese ships, establishing himself as an infamous seaman adept at evading authorities at sea and ashore. This adventurous tale is a faithful, unedited reproduction of Daniel Defoe's 1725 story.